Survey Says Japanese Dislike Shooters

[Mullahgrrl]

I'm guessing it's because of the lack of exposure to guns (both cultural and legally) combined with the decades of exposure to rpg's.

Compared to the American Idolization of guns (Cowboy movies, Right to Bear arms, Hunting, Ect.)

But I guess blaming any difference in cultural attitude is just the better way to go about it, after all, judging a culture inferior to yours is SO much easier than actually trying to understand, right?

Bull!

Im from sweden, a country that is practically a carbon-copy of japan in matters of gun-availability and everyone (well, gamers) play almost nothing but main stream shooters!



(I exagurate greatly, shooters are popular, but so is RPGs and RTSs. It is about the avarege western state of affairs)

 

[cainx10a]

It standard in shooters, especially recently, because shooters tend to aim towards realism. How realistic would it be to have a skinny teenager in a warzone? Not very.

Yeah, guys in Western games will sometimes be overly-masculine, but doesn't that make more sense to have a guy look like a guy than a guy look like a girl?

If there was a skinny teenager in a warzone that managed to survive, it would be interesting to explore why.

If there is a guy that looks like a girl, it gives him something that your overly masculine protagonists don't have: character. It singles him out as someone truly unique.

Don't forget to mention that most girls are "turned on" by those "emo-looking 'boys'". (Marcus Fenix? w/e this thing is, I don't want to invite him home for dinner).

I find it weird that people are actually getting all worked-up about Japaneses preference in gaming, most fps offer a shallow single-player/multi-player experience except for the orange box, bioshock, deus ex where the plot and gameplay was fun.

One of the most played games in america;
"CoD4 could be summed up into move to point A shoot evil arab, move to point B, shoot some more evil Arabs, and move to point C to earn your medal of honor while trying to save wounded comrade while thousands of evil Arabs are shooting at you, whoopsie daisie - End of Story."

Most FPSes, if not, all of them, are just showcase of how powerful the game engine is to deliver beautiful and photo-realistic graphics (Crysis anyone?). And when it comes down to PC gaming in general in japan, are there any PC-focused developpers? nada, some games are ported to PCs, some.

And to sum up, I love FPSes even if right now, am taking a break for Age of Conan, but if someone else don't want to play them, no need to shove it down their throat. Western FPSes, and games are catered for the western players, same thing goes for Japanese games. If they don't like them, just play your damn game and let the world move on.

 

[meisnewbie]

"Really, I think the biggest difference between the West and East is that the West is much more open about trying something different and is likely to enjoy a wide variety of genres and types of games, rather than Japan who seem to narrowly like a few specific types of games."

I think such a statement is a waste of time when you actually consider what Americans buy.

1) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- 9.4 million
2) Guitar Hero 3 -- 8.2 million
3) Madden NFL 07 -- 7.7 million
4) Madden NFL 06 -- 7.7 million
5) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -- 7.3 million
6) Halo 2 -- 6.61 million
7) Madden NFL 08 -- 6.6 million
8) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- 6.25 million
9) Grand Theft Auto III -- 6.2 million
10) Madden NFL 2005 -- 6.1 million

Analysis: there are 3 GTA games and 4 Madden games. There is one Guitar Hero, one Halo, and one Call of Duty.

There are three Sandbox games, 4 sports games (the same sport nevertheless!) Two FPS and 1 Rythmn game which no doubt learned greatly from the success of DDR.

There are no original games there, only sequels/remakes (eh, dunno what you would call the madden games).

(Source: http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/03/top-video-games-tech-personal-cx_bc_0603video.html)

Can you tell me that Westerners like a diverse range of games again?

 

[Usige Beatha]

"Really, I think the biggest difference between the West and East is that the West is much more open about trying something different and is likely to enjoy a wide variety of genres and types of games, rather than Japan who seem to narrowly like a few specific types of games."

I think such a statement is a waste of time when you actually consider what Americans buy.

1) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- 9.4 million
2) Guitar Hero 3 -- 8.2 million
3) Madden NFL 07 -- 7.7 million
4) Madden NFL 06 -- 7.7 million
5) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -- 7.3 million
6) Halo 2 -- 6.61 million
7) Madden NFL 08 -- 6.6 million
8) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- 6.25 million
9) Grand Theft Auto III -- 6.2 million
10) Madden NFL 2005 -- 6.1 million

Analysis: there are 3 GTA games and 4 Madden games. There is one Guitar Hero, one Halo, and one Call of Duty.

There are three Sandbox games, 4 sports games (the same sport nevertheless!) Two FPS and 1 Rythmn game which no doubt learned greatly from the success of DDR.

There are no original games there, only sequels/remakes (eh, dunno what you would call the madden games).

(Source: http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/03/top-video-games-tech-personal-cx_bc_0603video.html)

Can you tell me that Westerners like a diverse range of games again?

If that isn't misleading then I don't know what is.

Thats like responding to someone saying that "Americans love different types of furit" by quoting the statistic that Apples and Banana's are the best sellers in the country.

Ok so you hit upon the common denominators for American Gamers, but that saying NOTHING about how diverse the rest of a gamers game-self is. For all you know, #'s 11-20 could be a through mix of RTS's, RPG's and adventure games. So quit jumping to conclusions and base your argument around something better than the top-10 list.

 

[Brognus]

I'm guessing it's because of the lack of exposure to guns (both cultural and legally) combined with the decades of exposure to rpg's.

Compared to the American Idolization of guns (Cowboy movies, Right to Bear arms, Hunting, Ect.)

But I guess blaming any difference in cultural attitude is just the better way to go about it, after all, judging a culture inferior to yours is SO much easier than actually trying to understand, right?

Bull!

Im from sweden, a country that is practically a carbon-copy of japan in matters of gun-availability and everyone (well, gamers) play almost nothing but main stream shooters!



(I exagurate greatly, shooters are popular, but so is RPGs and RTSs. It is about the avarege western state of affairs)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Sweden have conscription between all males between 18-42? Compared to Japan's Self-Defence force which is strictly voluntary, that alone would make guns more exposed.

Furthermore the issue is also largely cultural, and unless you can claim that your culture is identical to Japan, the comparison is not apt.

 

[Brognus]

Considering 1/2 of the games on the top 10 list are sequels of eachother (Screw you EA games!), I don't think that list should count.

 

[Galduke]

Yeah and all Americans are Gun-Toting freaks who get off from violence.

Isn't Stereotyping other cultures fun, kids?!

Actually I'm quit surprised at how many people outside the US stereotype us, but then again we have some pretty ridiculous stereotypes of ourselves, or has nobody seen the bile that is Family Guy when they move to Texas to save Stewie from being killed by crazed Christians? The world of humor and politics would be a better place if Seth Mcfarlane was hit by a bus.

Back on topic, the Japanese often avoid western games often due to poor (if any) translations and an overload of unwanted crap titles *likely dumped off by major companies like EA, Activision, ect. in order to make a quick buck on games that failed to meet expectations both critically and financially in the US/Europe*.

Japan can also from time to time seem as ignorant as the pre civil rights movement US south, in one case denying a half white child access to an onsen apparently due to Japanese regulars dislike of drunken Russian sailors (let the eye rolling begin).

Also, many great western games are on the PC, and Japs HATE using the PC for anything beyond porn, email, internet, ect. and even these are now being replaced by an armada of specialized gadgets.

* indicates a theory I pulled out of my as$ having done no research beyond an article stating little translation as a factor and using a WWF (now WWE) game as an example.

 

[Gamer137]

Japan is a smaller nation with less variety of people. Thus less variety os popular media. America has people from virtually every culture and has as much variety in media; and Japan does enjoy some American media. Jennifer Love Hewitt's songs are popular in Japan for example. Japan also has media popular in the US such as anime and manga. It's an equal trade off with no need to complain or attack. The Middle East is an accurate example of anti-American feelings, not Japan.

As for the hardcore pornography industry, America has a massive porn industry and so does Japan. The only difference is America's is real people and Japan uses animated media sence actual people performing in such acts would be pretty negative I guess.

 

[broadband]

i think this is a interesting discussion, pitfuly i dont think i can say anything because my gaming expierence is limited to a couple of nintendos and pc, and i havent seen much japanese games on pc.

about the girly guys, well theres the cultural diference, i think they have certain charm that the macho western characters dont, beyond the women eye candy.

oh and talking about Family Guy, i remember a episode where the Griffin have to move to the south because of a criminal, showing the ignorant southern stereotype.

 

[Luthorcrow]

Making fun of the South is as fair game as making fun of Nazis. Face it, you're our redheaded stepchildren. We wanted to leave you at the bus station in a cardboard box with an oneway ticket and sign saying "I'm not the product of a brother sister love" but no one is buying it. We're stuck with you.

The Japaense have very different tastes. I personally take no offense that they don't like FPS games just as they shouldn't be offend by the fact tha I don't want to play a bus driving sim or most JRPGs, etc. Besides do you really want 90 minute cut scenes in your FPS games.

 

[anomalous_underdog]

*sigh* Most of what I'm reading here is arguments. The best we can do is make educated guesses.

Japanese prefer swords over guns (there's an article here in The Escapist explaining that, I forgot where)

Japanese prefer games wherein the game controls the camera view for them: Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, et al. FPS games naturally force players to change their camera view for themselves.

I can name a few Japanese games that are TPS: Dirge of Cerberus, some gundam games, Lost Planet maybe (since its also sold in Japan), and there's that.. i don't know, that scantily clad anime girl with a cowboy hat, a revolver, and a samurai sword, i think its on the xbox 360.

So I think the controls (using mouse and keyboard) are partly to blame.
"The games seem difficult"
"I'm worried about playing them because I'm a beginner."

Its only a guess though.

Also, regarding mouse and keyboard, as far as I know, consoles (and not PC's) dominate the gaming industry in Japan. I would likewise find it hard to play an FPS game using a gamepad. I know you can put mouse and keyboards in the next-gen consoles these days but its not like they're bundled in with the console when you buy it.


Not all Japanese hate FPS or western games. If that was true, Xbox would've had 0% sales in Japan.


Here's how the Japanese make FPS games: http://www.fpsrantings.com/2007/09/03/only-in-japan-fps-meets-erotic-game/
The youtube video doesn't work though; its been taken down.

 

[Ultrajoe]

To offer a viewpoint that i have'nt seen in this thread yet.

Perhaps the japanese don't like the millions of shooters we have about the war they lost.

Gunning down your countrymen to a heroic soundtrack would be somewhat conflicting to the japanese gamer, it would be like an australian playing the turkish machine-gunner at Gallipoli, Or a jewish person playing as a nazi gas chamber technician.

 

[BlackLiger]

Speaking of which, can someone please explain to me why Americans hate the french? I never understood it, because they helped you guys in the american revolution (so much it nearly bankrupted them) and gave you the Statue of Liberty, yet they're french fry cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys.

Honestly, I suspect that's WHY the Americans, generally, hate the French. That fierce independent streak where they "don't need any help from anyone". That and a possible inheritance of we Brit's hatred of the French, though ours is more or less "we're neighbors" kind of hate.

The Japaense have very different tastes. I personally take no offense that they don't like FPS games just as they shouldn't be offend by the fact tha I don't want to play a bus driving sim or most JRPGs, etc. Besides do you really want 90 minute cut scenes in your FPS games.

You know, it actually scares me that at number 7 in the UK top 10 games chart right now is a bus driving sim. Not because it's a bus driving sim... well, ok, yes, but mostly because it's set in the UK... It's ... well, a WTF, since none of our buses are EVER on time.

 

[meisnewbie]

"" For all you know, #'s 11-20 could be a through mix of RTS's, RPG's and adventure games. So quit jumping to conclusions and base your argument around something better than the top-10 list."

Argument from ignorance. If you have a better source, then show it. Sure there IS the possibility that the next ten games may be diverse, but that possibility would be no more and no less than any other logically coherent one unless you have proof otherwise. I fully admit that the list would be massively biased towards the casual gaming market simply because it is based on sales. But you aren't going to be making any statement regarding gamers without including the casual market.

"Eeal gamers" like we think ourselves to be (people who don't just play madden, Halo or GTA) are quickly becoming a niche phenomena in the gaming world. The average age of a gamer is around 30 if not higher. Months where Madden comes out it regularly tops sales charts, as do "casual" games such as Wii Fit, Pokemon etc. I'm sure NPD supports my sales data (Will find on request!

 

[stompy]

Xenophobia and bigotry are NOT synonymous with isolationism, even if the two coincide.

The U.S., for example, may have been isolationist in the post-war years, and we may also have been extremely xenophobic and bigoted in virtually every conceivable way, but there's no realy causality there.

You have a point there... sorry. What I mean to say is that, because they were a very isolated country, and that they thought they were the master race (well, amongst Asians at least), they weren't so open to other cultures.

 

[blubbyblubbyblub]

The difference between America hating France and France hating America is that pretty much all European countries hate America.

I am Swedish and the general image we got is fanatic guntoting bigoted christians who gets fat and sues McDonalds.

Part of this image i actually picked up from American media "cough2therantinggryphoncougch"

 

[Alphavillain]

I don't think FPS games are skillful enough for Japanese gamers. Japanese games tend to demand intense specialisation of controls or knowledge: think of those ultr-hard platform games in the 80s, or Ninja Gaiden, or on the second point, JRPGS (stats, magics, more stats). I don't know if the lack of FPS penetration into the Japanese market is to do with violence or a hatred of guns: I think it is more to do with the fact they are not as based on skill and learning the rules of the game as Japanese games.

 

[meisnewbie]

Japanese have apparently acquired a reputation in the games industry for being bad at action oriented games too. RE4 had an Easy Mode, DMC's JP difficulty levels are one level higher than the same one in USA's (JP's Medium is USA's easy etc.).

They also have harder modes in RPG games though, IIRC Tales of Symphonia's Mania mode was availible from the getgo in Japan and several bosses had harder attack patterns. Not sure if I'm confusing it with the PS2 version though.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

I don't play JRPGs cos I think they're really weird compared to the quick-thinking/reflex action games I'm used to.

I guess by this thread's standards, that makes me a xenophobe.